Optimizing Water Use to Sustain Food Systems

The challenges faced by Ogallala aquifer region producers are not confined by state lines. Neither are the solutions.

Water. Whether it falls from the sky or is pumped from the Ogallala aquifer, water is of central importance to the High Plains economy and way of life. Groundwater pumped from the Ogallala aquifer (the principal formation of the High Plains aquifer system) has transformed the region from a Dustbowl to an agricultural powerhouse. More than 30% of U.S. crops and livestock are produced in this region, significantly impacting domestic and international food supplies.

Extensive pumping has led to significant depletion of the Ogallala aquifer and declining water quality in certain areas. Careful management of the Ogallala aquifer resource today and for the long-​term is critical to communities of this region.

The Ogallala Water Coordinated Agriculture Project, a multi-​disciplinary collaborative effort funded by USDA-​NIFA, is focused on developing and sharing practical, science-​supported information relevant to best management practices for optimizing water use across the Ogallala region. Our interdisciplinary team is engaged in research, outreach and cooperative partnerships with a diverse set of stakeholders, working to support current and future generations of producers in the region.

Consumers

Identifying Solutions to Challenges

Strategies implemented by the Franklin Family farm include creating a Water Conservation area, prioritizing profitability over bushel yields, using soil probes, and low population seeding.

"Having a soil probe in each of our irrigated circles has definitely saved us money. How we manage water on our farm using the probes and residue helps keeps nutrients in the root zone, preventing money we’ve spent on them from leaching or washing away.
”- Tim Franklin

With support from an NRCS Conservation Innovation Grant, Scott installed mobile drip irrigation lines (MDI) on the first three towers of eleven pivots. On those acres where the old drop nozzle packages were replaced with MDI, water use has been reduced by 38%.

"With the MDI on the inside towers, we are able to put more of that water down the system to the outside towers. We’re getting better system pressures, and doing a better job of watering with the water we are using, with nearly 100% of the water we’re applying getting into the soil.
”- Clay Scott

John Berge, Scottsbluff, NE Manager, North Platte Natural Resource District

As of the beginning of the next water year, 861 of NPNRD's 1900 regulated wells will have telemetry units installed on flow meters throughout the district, with grant support for this program provided by the Nebraska Department of Natural Resources (NDNR) and the Nebraska Environmental Trust (NET). These units offer to all parties a reliable, accurate way to receive crop water use data and can be built upon to add weather sensors, moisture sensors or other components valuable for irrigation management.

"As a groundwater management district, The North Platte Natural Resources District (NPNRD) has always striven to collect the best available data to inform water management decisions. Similarly, the NPNRD has seen from past projects that landowners make demonstrably better farm-management decisions when they have their actual water-use data available to them in real-time.
”- John Berge

Water Technology Farms are three year pilot public-private partnerships where producer hosts demonstrate field-scale, water conservation-oriented irrigation technologies. KSU staff are deeply involved in helping establish and monitoring the farms to help answer the
producers’ specific questions and concerns about the new technology. Water Tech Farm Field Days provide exposure to large audiences for multiple types of soil moisture probes, pivot controls, irrigation scheduling systems and other water management tools. (kwo.ks.gov/projects/water-technology-farms)

"While we need to evaluate the performance of these farms for multiple years, the preliminary results from a water savings and economic standpoint are encouraging. There is growing evidence that water use reductions coupled with irrigation technology adoption and water management will result in positive effects on the aquifer and the producer’s bottom line.
”- Tracy Streeter

The Walz family uses many strategies on their farm, including adjusting seeding rates to align with variations in soil organic matter/water holding capacity, using cover crops, grazing, and raising crops for forage, for commodity harvest and for seed. Focus on residue management and getting animals into fields has increased soil organic matter, decreased weed pressure and has contributed to savings related to inputs/water use.

"Someone told me once you grow 40-50 crops in a lifetime. As a young producer, I want to learn about all the new technologies available and interact with and learn from other producers. Taking a long-term perspective on using water from the Ogallala, I think about how I’m fortunate to farm alongside my father and grandfather, and I think about my two sons. If we get this figured out, they’ll have a better chance to farm with me.
”- Jon Walz

Across the Ogallala aquifer region, OWCAP team members are attending and presenting at each other's Field Days and at other events. This exchange is valuable for identifying what kinds of events and communications draw in producers, policy makers and other stakeholders and are effective at encouraging learning about water use efficient, productive, and profitable cropping and irrigation management practices.

"People in my area can come talk to me anytime, but there's a truth in that "you only know what you've been exposed to." People do really creative work and they are innovative in terms of how they solve or address problems. And it's not too far fetched to think that maybe the challenges people are having now are the ones we'll have in the future. There is a huge direct value in being able to learn from each other and a lot of overlap since we're all using groundwater.
”- Daran Rudnick

Testing Ag Performance solutions (taps.unl.edu): A competition in which the management decisions (corn variety, water and nutrient applications) of fifteen farmer teams were implemented on a research station field using variable rate irrigation. Through the competition, participating producers get to test out a wide range of technologies and figure out avenues to maximize return on investment, while reducing water and input use.

"Everyone's striving to improve water management on their operations, but the job's never going to be 'done' and you can never stop learning. Competitions like TAPS attract the interest of producers because by testing out new technologies without incurring risk, they can identify if there's a margin to be had or gained by investing in new technology.
”- Ted Tietjen

The Water Preservation Partnership, a group of groundwater managers and producers, is working on a resolution to mandate reduced groundwater pumping within the Colorado's Northern High Plains Designated Ground Water Basin.

"More and more people are realizing the value of the water. We’ve got to have that water for so many reasons. Not just for ten, twenty or thirty years but way beyond that, because the value of the land is tied to the water. The water is necessary to keep the people in the towns—in the cities, to run the services—water drives our ag-based economy. We realize we need to work together to make the water go as far as possible.
”- Steve Kramer

Glenn Schur’s goal is to conserve his land and water while maintaining farm profitability. He has taken a proactive approach to achieving this through his advanced monitoring and conservative farming efforts.

"Water is vitally important and it makes good sense to conserve it for the future of the area and generations to come. The more valuable our crops become, the more important and valuable the water under our land is.
”- Glenn Schur

This website is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number 2016-68007-25066, “Sustaining agriculture through adaptive management to preserve the Ogallala aquifer under a changing climate."